This is a tough one and the Mouse is bothered. I am no fan of most of today's religions. Like nationalism, it allows one to believe that their way is the one true way and any number of actions, including murder, is a valid response to that belief being threatened. I won't judge those who believe in a god of some kind, in fact I am very accepting of and stand up for the freedom of religion as long as that religion accepts all others and in particular my right to disbelieve. Whether or not I am an atheist or a deist, like our founding fathers, is of no matter, the point is that what you believe or don't is personal to you and is one of your basic human rights. That's a really, really big point. How you imagine an entity of higher power, if you imagine one at all, happens only in your mind. Words written in a book have been written by men (women too, but those have all been burned and buried) and if you want to follow the ideals of those writings then that is your choice as well. Personally, I see being a responsible human being in charge of your own actions is much more evolved than allowing yourself to believe that a higher power controls all actions and the fact that you just hurt or killed someone is not your fault because your god deemed it the right thing to do. Which brings me to this story.
In Pakistan there is one Mrs. Bibi, mother of five and a Christian in a predominately Muslim society. Mrs. Bibi is currently in jail awaiting possible execution for blasphemy. That's right, it's 2010, not 1020 and someone is in jail accused of blasphemy. The particulars are this; working on a farm, Mrs. Bibi brought her fellow workers some water which they, being Muslim, would not accept because Mrs. Bibi, being Christian, made the water "impure". Well, offense was taken, words were exchanged and in Pakistan, only Muslims have the right to be right. This is my problem with religion going beyond the personal. When it becomes entwined in nationalism, it becomes fatal. Hence, our deist founding fathers of America stressing the importance of the "Separation of Church and State".
This isn't a condemnation of Muslims or Christians, it is a condemnation of fundamentalists whether in Pakistan or the United States and of any and all religions. I always thought "fundamental" meant "most basic" but in today's world, it means "most biased, most ignorant, most hateful, most non-accepting, most intolerant" . . . I could go on. Writing this I remember vividly my high school years. . . in an over-crowded school of a thousand, a mixed bag of mostly Catholics, Protestants and Jews, there was one Muslim boy. Every day at lunch, in a delinquent filled cafeteria, he prayed before he ate. No one, and I do mean no one, would have ever thought of intruding on his peace of mind for those few minutes. We're losing that civility in this modern world. Intolerance of "others" is becoming the norm. Divide and conquer, build walls to keep them out, drive out the infidels, whatever your battle-cry, you make us less human. Mrs. Bibi offered a moments relief in the spirit of acceptance and was scorned because of what, she read words from a different book? She should be killed for words? Is this the same as Joe Lieberman calling for the execution of Julian Assange for the words he posted on Wikileaks?
Free Mrs. Bibi. Free Mr. Assange. Free speech, religious or political. The Mouse is bothered.
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